Designing a 12th Level Party?

[mattcolville]

As mentioned in another thread, my group is making a 12th level party and we're taking the opportunity to create a group who've known each other a long time. This is not a bunch of people who've never met, but a seasoned adventuring company.

And I wonder if there are any cool synergies we could create or opportunities for maximizing our potential that we get when we make 12th level party all at once, that we might otherwise miss.

Any ideas?

 

[green slime]

Well, instead of trying to force people into playing the standard disparate team of rogue-fighter-cleric-mage, why not try to have a "team with a theme". Creating a melded background.

For instance, you could go rogue-theme:
Arcane Trickster
Rogue-Cleric multiclass (can't think of any PrC right now, mental blackout
Rogue-Archer
Rogue-Ranger (twf)

All human and working for some guild as their elite team.

Or a group of Clerics. Try restricting race choices as well.

I think you'll find that restricting your choices is actually a good idea, and leads to greater cohesion, and more credible background.

 

[szilard]

Definitely find out people's general combat strategy.

You probably don't want more than a single grappler - and if you have a grappler in the group, then other PCs should be aware of that (and have methods to take advantage of it).

Spellcasters should be made aware of the needs of the party. Do you have a number of people who wear little/no armor? Talk about Mage Armor options and such. Does anyone have Item Creation feats? Use them to make stuff your party members need.

Make sure your healing plans are well-understood by all.

Running through a trial-run practice encounter or two isn't a bad idea, just to get over that initial bumpiness.

-Stuart

 

[Malum]

Grapplers best friend is a Rogue "no dex to ac vs others whilst grappling.

 

[two]

All Clerics

I've been meaning to try this one for a while.

As somebody else suggested -- all clerics.

Cleric1: melee cleric, subfocus: group buffing
Cleric2: melee cleric, subfocus: touch attack spells
Cleric3: ranged cleric, subfocus: area control spells
Cleric4: pure spellcaster magic domain, subfocus: maximized DC, disabling spells, arcane wands

Throw in another cleric for summoning if you have 5 players.

All can heal, have good AC, saves, hit points, and versatility.

 

[mattcolville]

So far there has not been an organized attempt to create a theme for the party. However, there's a good chance the party (of 6) will have three Monks in it. Currently our makeup looks like;

1 Vow of Poverty Monk 12
1 Fighter 2/Monk 10, AoO Monk
1 Cleric/Radiant Servant of Pelor
1 Dwarven Warmage

Probably one Barbarian of unknown type.

I'm hoping my buddy Craig will take an Arcanopath Monk, or a Sorcerer/Monk/Enlightened Fist.

 

[Question]

You need a pure arcane caster, definately.

Personally, a sorc 6/academy sorcerer 6 specialising in enchantment with bonus item creation feats would seem to work out well, and focusing on buff spells.

 

[MarkB]

Having recently created a 12th-level Dragon Shaman, I've been wondering how an all-dragon-shaman group would look.

Between them, they've got more than enough healing, covering everything except ability drain.

Once you get four or five different auras all going at once, it's like having heavily pre-buffed the party, except with no expenditure of time and resources, and you can mix-and-match as the situation demands.

Breath weapons all round substitute for area-effect spells, and grabbing some of the breath weapon feats from Draconomicon and Races of the Dragon gets you battlefield-control effects too.

With Cleric BAB and Fighter hit dice, plus medium armour and shields, they're tough enough. The only thing they seriously miss in straight combat is martial weapons.

Since the only usage-limited ability is Touch of Vitality, they can basically carry on all day barring hit-point loss.

Where they're lacking is in long-range combat, and the versatility of spellcasting. One of them might have to take Use Magic Device cross-class to gain access to scrolls and wands.

 

[Malum]

Team of specialist:

12th Radiant Servant of Pelor” the undead specialist
12th Cerbramancer (9th WarMage/9th Psion) riot control, true arsenal of fire power!
12th 3rd Paladin / 9th Favored Soul great saves, great healer, party leader, melee
12th Dwarven Fighter / Dwarven Defender? A melee specialist, a hold the line big time tank buffed by spellcasters.
12th 4 Fighter / 3 Rogue / 3 Ranger / 2 Shadow Dancer speed & skill guy with a lot of feats skills & abilities.
12th 6th Fighter / 5th Psychic Warrior Party archer

 

[szilard]

So far there has not been an organized attempt to create a theme for the party. However, there's a good chance the party (of 6) will have three Monks in it. Currently our makeup looks like;

1 Vow of Poverty Monk 12
1 Fighter 2/Monk 10, AoO Monk
1 Cleric/Radiant Servant of Pelor
1 Dwarven Warmage

Probably one Barbarian of unknown type.

I'm hoping my buddy Craig will take an Arcanopath Monk, or a Sorcerer/Monk/Enlightened Fist.

Hmmm...

You'll want someone who can cast arcane utility spells.

You'll want to be sure that you have mobility boosts for the slower types.

You'll want a skillmonger (Rogue/Scout/Beguiler/etc). You'll also probably be working at a bit of a Knowledge skill disadvantage.

-Stuart